Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was facing pushback from members of his coalition on Thursday after telling the Wall Street Journal that key sections of the coalition’s judicial overhaul were either buried or would change.
“The idea of an override clause, where the parliament, the Knesset, can override the decisions of the Supreme Court with a simple majority, I said, I threw that out… It’s out.” The override clause would give the Knesset the power to enact laws that are immune to judicial review.
However, MK Miki Zohar contradicted the Prime Minister’s statement, saying that “my assessment is that the override clause will come in the future.” Zohar added, “Netanyahu’s intention is mainly to calm things down, to say ‘we want to promote reform, but at a [moderate] pace and not in a blitz.” The Prime Minister also indicated that he would modify the portion of the Judicial reform law that would give the ruling coalition much more power to appoint judges.
Not one to hold back, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused Netanyahu of “surrendering” to mass protests against the planned judicial shakeup, saying that “we were elected to bring governance and change; reform is a cornerstone of that promise.”
Will Netanyahu drop this controversial part of the judicial reform, thereby limiting the reform overhaul? Or is he just shaking things up to keep the left quiet for the time being? He says he is looking for a “middle ground.” Is there one to be found? Only time will tell.